The Ultimate in Passover Music

By Karen Primack

Consider this, the ultimate in Passover music: A nine-year-old Jewish
African girl, croons in her native language of Luganda, "Sing with
Jerusalem, rejoice with Jerusalem^I will sing my song for
Jerusalem, Come my friend, we go to Jerusalem."

Then, in the tradition of the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda of which she is
a part, she and a choir switch to Hebrew with many repetitions of
"L'shana haba b'Yerushalayim," while her father weaves in an
infectious counter-melody in Luganda.

Rachel Namudosi, child soloist and darling of the recently released
recording "Shalom Everybody Everywhere!" once impressed the vice
president of Uganda so much, he lent her village a bicycle.

Proceeds from the recording will benefit the Abayudaya, who have been
practicing Judaism in eastern Uganda since 1919 and who live on
subsistence agriculture without electricity or running water. A good
portion of these proceeds will pay for school scholarships for
Abayudaya youth such as Rachel.

The recording features the Kohavim Tikvah Choir singing -- in English,
Hebrew, Luganda and Swahili -- traditional Jewish liturgy set to
African melodies and rhythms, as well as new compositions created by
the Abayudaya for religious services and daily Jewish life.

The 17 songs on the tape include Abayudaya versions of "Sh'ma
Yisrael," "Hinei Ma Tov," "L'cha Dodi," the Shehecheyanu, and "Adon
Olam," as well as the traditional version of "Hatikvah."

There are original English-language compositions of "Torah Torah" and
"Thirteen Principles of Faith," both interpreted by Rachel. The
stirring words of "Torah Torah" include "I love the Torah... she gives
me food, she gives me life. Torah, the tree of life, is full of
peace...She is my mother, she is my happiness...." "The Thirteen
Principles of Faith" is an African treatment of Maimonides'
formulation.

Another original composition in English is "We Shan't Give Up," the
Abayudaya motto song. Its emotional words move every visitor to the
small but vibrant community: "However few we shall be...We have the
hope to prosper...Every day, every night, we shall never give
up...Come on, come on, join the struggle...."

Also included are mesmerizing songs in Swahili -- "Tunafuraha Sana"
("We Are Very Happy") and "Fanya Kazi Nangufu" ("Work Hard with All
Your Might"), sung while the Abayudaya youth worked on their kibbutz
to make bricks for the synagogue -- and in Luganda -- "Mukama
Alinyamba" ("My Lord Will Help Me") and "Mukwano Gwange" ("My
Beloved"). The words of "Mukwano Gwange" are especially beautiful: "I
have one beloved, God is my beloved...You, the sick, don't worry, for
the Lord is your Doctor...You who are in peril, do not worry for the
Lord is everything you need. Let me boast of my Lover..."

The title song closes the recording with a tuneful "Shalom" from their
isolated mountain top to Americans, Ugandans, Arabs, Christians,
Jews...to "everybody everywhere."

The genesis of the recording occurred a few years ago, when Matt Meyer
was a Brown University student in Africa. After attending Shabbat
services with the Abayudaya, he recalls: "The service itself was
magical. When I heard their L'cha Dodi, I was quite moved. It was
simply one of the most beautiful tunes I had ever heard in a
synagogue. I wanted every Hebrew school teacher and fellow Jew
throughout the world to hear the Abayudaya version of L'cha Dodi. It
was the magical mix of being Ugandan and Jewish simultaneously that so
few Jews in the world have seen."

When Rabbi J. Hershy Worch, a hasid who has released a cassette of his
own musical renditions of prayers, heard Matt's copy of Abayudaya
Jewish music, he played it continuously for a week and then made plans
to go to Uganda. He made his second trip last summer.

When Rabbi Ethan Seidel, a pulpit rabbi with a degree from the Oberlin
Conservatory of Music, heard the tape, he described it as "Jewish
music in a refreshing flavor unlike any other in the world," and tried
out one of the melodies with his students and congregants at Tifereth
Israel Congregation in Washington, DC.

Cantor David Shneyer is founder of the Jewish Folk Arts Society,
founder and director of Am Kolel Judaic Resource Center, a founder of
the popular Fabrangen Fiddlers klezmer band, and a singer-composer
with numerous recordings. When he heard the Abayudaya sound, he said,
"What I love about this music is the joyfulness that comes through.
Several of the tunes should be integrated into the repertoire of
cantors, Jewish singers, and choral groups across the U.S."

TO ORDER

By Mail: Please send check to "Kulanu Music Project", 1217 Edgevale Rd., Silver
Spring, MD 20910-1612. $15 for each CD and/or $7 for each audio cassette, plus
$6 for shipping in the US ($7 for Canada, $8 for other
countries). Add $1 for postage and handling for each additional CD or
cassette in the US and Canada ($2 for other countries).